My Lawn Is Patchy and Dying No Matter What I Do
Fertilizer, seed, water, repeat, and it still thins out by August. The fork in the road is simple. If the soil is there, the lawn can be rebuilt from the top. If it is a skim of topsoil over clay, it has to be rebuilt from the bottom. Lumen Landscaping rebuilds tired lawns with real topsoil and new sod across Hamilton: call (905) 906-0671 or send the form for a free written quote.
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The problem
What you are seeing
Every spring it greens up and every August it gives up. There are bare patches that never fill in, a strip along the driveway that is more weed than grass, a thin, yellowish area under the maple, and a few circles that went brown in July and never came back. You have fed it, seeded it, watered it and raked it. The patches move around a little, but the lawn never gets thick, and the neighbour's lawn, which gets less attention, looks better.
A lawn that fails no matter what you do is almost never failing because of what you do. It is failing because of what is under it. Grass roots need a few inches of real soil to live in, and a lot of Hamilton lawns, on the Mountain, out in Binbrook and Mount Hope, and on every newer street, sit on a skim of topsoil over clay. The roots hit the clay and stop, the lawn lives on the top inch, and the top inch dries out in a week of July heat.
So the first job is to find out which lawn you have. One kind can be rebuilt from the top, with dethatching, fertilizer and seed. The other has to be rebuilt from the bottom, with real topsoil and sod. Everything else on this page follows from that.
Our Work
Lawns we have rebuilt
Why a lawn goes patchy and dies
Most failing lawns have two or three of these at once, which is why fixing one thing never seems to work.
- A skim of topsoil over clay: The most common cause in Hamilton. An inch or two of soil over clay gives roots nowhere to go. The lawn lives on the surface, dries out in summer and drowns in spring.
- Shade: Lawn grass needs hours of direct sun. Under a mature tree or on the north side of the house it thins every year, and no amount of seed fixes a spot that gets two hours of light.
- Grubs: White grubs eat the roots, and the turf browns in patches and lifts like a carpet. If animals are digging it up too, read our page on lawns dug up by skunks and raccoons.
- Compaction: Ground that is walked on wet, driven on, or was never loosened when the house was built packs hard. Water runs off it, roots cannot push into it, and the lawn thins along the paths people take.
- Thatch: A thick mat of dead stems and roots between the grass and the soil sheds water and fertilizer before they reach the roots. The lawn looks fed and stays hungry.
- Salt and dogs: The strip along the driveway and the sidewalk gets a winter of salt. The spots in the back are the dog. Both kill the grass and the soil underneath has to be dealt with before anything will grow there again.
Google reviews
What our customers say
“The team did an excellent job re-sodding our backyard. They were professional, careful working around our pool, and the finished result looks fantastic.”
“I recently had Lumen remove the surface of our weed-infested lawn and replace it with fresh sod on the larger of two areas, and river rock on the smaller area. It was a pleasure dealing with Jeff at Lumen.”
“Excellent experience with Lumen Landscaping. Efficient, knowledgeable, hardworking, and my lawn looks fantastic. Highly recommend! I had Lumen landscape a second project one year later. Same terrific experience.”
The fix
The fork in the road: rebuild from the top, or from the bottom
From the top. When the shovel finds real soil and the lawn is thin rather than dead, it does not need new sod. Dethatching, fertilizer and a good grass seed blend let water and food reach the roots, fill the thin areas and thicken the lawn over a season. It is the cheaper fix and the right one more often than people expect, and it is a job for you or a lawn care company rather than for us, so we will tell you plainly when your lawn is on this side of the fork.
From the bottom. When the shovel finds clay an inch down, or the lawn is mostly dead, we excavate and dispose of the existing grass throughout the area, complete minor regrading of the soil and rake out debris, bring in premium topsoil delivered, spread and graded where it is needed, apply sod starter fertilizer, install premium Kentucky bluegrass sod, and roll it for proper contact. You get a 12 month custom lawn care plan to help the new lawn settle in and thrive. Sod gives you a green lawn the day it goes down and roots in about two to three weeks. That is our sod and lawns service, and if the yard also holds water, our grading page explains how the regrade is done at the same time.
Timing matters. Sod goes down spring to fall, when the ground is not frozen and the sod farms are cutting, and it needs daily water for the first two weeks. In Guelph, where the city's drinking water comes almost entirely from groundwater, the Outside Water Use Program runs April 1 to October 31 and a lawn watering permit lets new sod be watered in the morning and evening for 30 days, so we plan the install around the permit. We wrote two guides worth reading before the sod arrives: preparing your yard for sod in Hamilton and new sod care tips.
Check this yourself first
Three tests with a shovel, a screwdriver and your hand will tell you which lawn you have.
- The shovel test: Dig a square a shovel deep in a bad patch. Measure the dark soil before you hit grey or orange clay. A few inches or more and the lawn can be rebuilt from the top. An inch or two, and it needs topsoil before anything else.
- The tug test: Grab a handful of brown turf and pull. If it lifts like a carpet with no roots holding it, grubs have eaten the roots. Look for white, C shaped grubs in the top few inches of soil at the edge of the patch.
- The screwdriver test: Push a long screwdriver into the lawn after a rain. If it goes in easily, the soil is open. If you have to lean on it, the ground is compacted and water and roots are not getting in.
- Count the sun: Look at the thin areas at midmorning, noon and midafternoon. Fewer than several hours of direct sun and grass is the wrong plant for that spot. A bed or groundcover there will look better than any lawn ever will.
- When to call: A lawn that has failed two summers running, bare patches that never fill in, or a shovel test that hits clay in the first inch is worth fixing this season. Call (905) 906-0671 and we will tell you which lawn you have.
Planning
What a lasting lawn includes, and what changes the price
A lasting lawn always includes
- The shovel test first, so the fix matches the lawn
- From the top, when the soil is there: we tell you when dethatching, fertilizer and seed are all it needs, a job for you or a lawn care company
- From the bottom: the old grass out, a regrade, real topsoil, starter fertilizer, Kentucky bluegrass sod, rolled
- Downspouts and low spots dealt with so the new lawn does not drown
- A 12 month care plan, and honest advice about the spots where grass will never win
What affects the price
- How much of the lawn has to be stripped and re-sodded
- The size of the lawn, and whether front and back are done together
- How many yards of topsoil the shovel test says the lawn needs
- Large roots or stumps found below the surface, which are discussed and confirmed with you before we go on
- Regrading or drainage work done at the same time
- Access for the sod and soil delivery, and the distance it is carried
A typical job, in plain words. Picture a front lawn that is half weeds, with clay an inch down and a bare strip along the driveway. We strip it, regrade so it falls to the street, bring in topsoil to give the roots somewhere to live, lay sod tight in a brick pattern and roll it. Two weeks of watering later it is a lawn, and the first mow is a different experience. The same lawn in Grimsby, between the lake and the escarpment, often has the same clay and gets the same soil. A lawn in Mount Hope on the clay plain gets a drainage look as well, because topsoil over clay that holds water is a sponge that never empties.
Every quote is written and free, and materials are billed at what they cost us with no markup.
Related
Related pages
Services: sod and lawns and grading. Related problems: a lawn dug up by skunks or raccoons, a lumpy, uneven lawn and clay soil where nothing grows. Areas: Hamilton, Grimsby and Guelph. More answers on our FAQ page, and more problems we fix.
FAQs
Patchy lawn questions
Seed when the soil is there and the lawn is thin: dethatch, fertilize and seed, and it thickens over a season, a job you or a lawn care company can do. Sod when the soil is not there or the lawn is mostly dead: strip it, bring in topsoil and lay sod, and it is green the day it goes down. The shovel test decides, and we tell you honestly which yours is.
Enough for the roots to live in, which the shovel test shows. An inch of dark soil over clay is not a lawn, it is a doormat. We bring in premium topsoil, spread and graded where it is needed, and the amount goes on your written quote in yards so there are no surprises.
Because the cause is still there: shade, a skim of soil over clay, compaction along a path, or salt by the driveway. Seed fills the patch in spring and the cause kills it again in July. Fix the cause, or in deep shade, give up on grass there and plant something that likes it.
Spring and early fall, when the temperatures are moderate and the sod farms are cutting. Sod roots in about two to three weeks with daily watering, so the week after it goes down matters more than the month. We plan the install around the forecast and, in Guelph, around the watering permit.
Yes, and it is the right order. A lawn laid on a yard that holds water drowns in spring. We regrade, carry the downspouts away and build any drain first, then the topsoil and sod go on top, by the same crew in one project.
Watering through the first weeks, when to mow for the first time and how high, when to feed, and what to expect through the first winter and spring. It is written for your lawn and left with you on the day, and we are happy to recommend a local company for ongoing cutting and fertilizing.
How it works
Getting started is easy
- 1
Call or send the form
Tell us what you have in mind. We reply fast, usually within the hour.
- 2
Get your free quote
We look at your project and send you a clear, written quote quickly.
- 3
We build it
We start quickly and back our craftsmanship with a 1-year warranty.
Get Free Quote
Get a Free Quote for a Lawn That Lasts
Tell us how big the lawn is and what the shovel test found, and send a photo of the worst patch. We will tell you which fork your lawn is on and get back to you fast with a free written quote.